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Hatanaka finishes sixth in 200 freestyle at Jr. Nationals

By Sports Staff

Posted:
12/08/2012 09:03:56 PM MST

Nick Hatanaka finished in an odd spot overall Saturday, a place where he was better than he'd ever been but not as good as he wanted to finish in the 200-yard freestyle at the Winter Junior Nationals in Knoxville, Tenn. Hatanaka finished sixth in the race for the Loveland Swim Club, posting a time of 2:00.23. His goal heading in was to knock down the 2-minute barrier, however.

"I thought they went OK, but I wanted to go a little faster," Hatanaka said. "It's pretty frustrating, but I know I'll be able to do it easily in the next couple of months. Even though it was a best time, I still wanted to break that barrier, but it's alright."

Nick Hatanaka
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It is the second top-eight finish for the LSC this weekend, and the group has posted seven finals swims over the past two days. Ryan Ball and Eryn Eddy were both 15th in the 1,650 free on the day, while Ball also took 16th in the 200 backstroke.

Hatanaka was 10th the day before in the 100 breast, while Eddy was ninth in the 200 free and Ball 11th in the 400 individual medley. LSC coach Jim Nickell said what made it more impressive was both Ball and Eddy placed in the 1,650 free in front of their other finals swims.

"They were both very good swims, and they were both the fastest he's gone before, and the fastest any boy in Loveland has gone before," Nickell said. "He really wanted to break 2 minutes, and he's happy to get his best time, make finals and get a medal, but I know he really wanted to break 2 minutes."

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